Bike Talk - A radio show dedicated to the idea that for public and planetary health we need to prioritize public transportation by bikes

Latest Episode

Week Without Driving, WeHo Bike Mayor, Idaho Stop Rationale, Coffeeneuring

October 11, 2024

Week Without Driving was September 30th – October 6th, 2024. Here’s a view of how it went by its creator Anna Zivarts, Author of “When Driving is Not an Option” and Director of Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington, and Ruth Rosas, Program Manager at America Walks.
2:02

US businesses ranked by their Bicycle Friendliness, from The League of American Bicyclists. With Amelia Neptune.
11:08

West Hollywood’s Bike Mayor, John Erickson, on making his city bike friendlier.
19:53

Science backs the benefits of the stop-as-yield law for bicyclists, according to Professor David Hurwitz of Oregon State University. With Charlie Leighthauser.
36:40

Stacey’s Bike Thought
54:27

bikecity, carfree, idahostop
Better Cities Films, Greenway Takeaway, This is Your Bike On Plants

October 4, 2024

The Better Cities Film Festival is all about bikes and dads, Director Josh Paget says. Also Transportation, Housing, Urban design, Environment, Community, and Technology.
5:12

It took a long time and a lot of community meetings to get the Dickens bike/ped greenway in Chicago, but a few NIMBYs were able to get it taken out without much process. We have Streetsblog Chicago Editor John Greenfield, Bike Grid Now organizer Rony Islam, and bike mom/activist Molly Lamping Fleck.
22:55

Elly Blue and Microcosm Publishing in Portland, OR, has a new anthology out: “This is your bike on plants.”
41:13

Stacey’s Bike Thought
56:55

bikebooks, bikefilms, bikelash, feministbicyclesciencefiction, greenway, NIMBYs
Freak Bikes, Traffic Violence, NHTSA’s Golden Rule, Milwaukee, Picture Main Street

September 27, 2024

Freak Bikes the Movie, about LA Bike Kitchen founder Jimmy Lizama and his son on a bike tour of the European bike cities, screened in the Better Cities Film Festival in Detroit. Filmmaker Ryan Mekenian talks about his inspiration with Reo Ramsey, our Detroit correspondent and social ride leader who connects the movie to his bond over bikes with his own father.

Bike Lawyer James Pocrass talks with us about the reasons for America’s high traffic fatality and injury rates. Turns out it’s unsafe speed, unserious enforcement, and unhelpful road design.

Milwaukee car violence victim and Critical Mass rider Cade Gerlach speaks to whether the driver who sent him to the hospital hit him accidentally or by design.

Strong Towns Northampton members Benjamin Spencer and Alex Bowman on their walking tour of “Picture Main Street” improvements. The tour was in part meant to allay the low information bikelash against planned street improvements for people outside of cars.

angledparking, bikelash, bikemovie, NHTSA, pedestriansafety, strongtowns
Local Motion, Bike Bills, Hockey Stars, CicLAmini, Monster Trucks and a New World Record

September 20, 2024

Taylor recaps his ride to Dodger Stadium.

Val Cyr, Local Motion’s Communications Specialist, on Vermont’s great biking.

Bike friendly bills are waiting on California Governor Newsom’s desk, reports California Bike Coalition’s Policy Director Jared Sanchez.

America’s Bike Mayor John Bauters on his run and riding for Alameda County Supervisor.

Listener Emails: Tim Riley on giving up his cars because of Bike Talk, and this video about motornormativity. Annie Pruitt on putting this link on our website.

Consumer Reports writer Keith Barry on his article about how Pickups are getting larger and becoming a hazard to pedestrians, smaller vehicles, and bike riders.

Stacey’s Bike Thought.

bikeferry, gaudreau, mixedrace, worldbike
Stop Victim Blaming (repost)

September 13, 2024

In this repost from March of 2024, Eddie Vargas, Grub Hub bike delivery worker, loads up groceries in Los Angeles.

Bike Traffic report with Don Ward.

A new study in the Journal for Transport and Land Use shows blaming individuals for traffic violence prevents systemic changes to US roadways.

“There Are No Accidents” author Jessie Singer on the evolution of the accident, and how the auto industry has convinced the public that car crashes are due to “jaywalkers,” “nutty drivers,” and human error- when they are built into our roads and cars.

Author Caroline Paul on her article “My Mother got on a bike. It changed her life” and the book from which it sprang, New York Times bestseller “The Gutsy Girl, Escapades for Your Life of Epic Adventure.”

One girl’s first time getting hit by a car.

Bike Thought by Stacey.
Bikeable Nation (repeat, with new bike thought)

September 6, 2024

Last year’s Tour de Vuelta coverage, featuring Sepp Kuss
2:45

Brake maintenance advice from fixie rider, activist, and Los Angeles Metro Bikeshare mechanic Anne Marie Drolet.
3:19

Jeff Speck, author of “Suburban Nation” and “Walkable Cities,” on making cities walkable and bikeable. With Taylor Nichols.
7:50

Getting the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to mandate Bicyclist Emergency Braking in deadly autonomous vehicles. With Ken McLeod, Policy Director of League of American Bicyclists, interviewed by Taylor Nichols.
38:41

Stacey’s new Bike Thought
54:42

AVs, bikeable, diybike, urban, walkable
Civil Obedience, Phantom Bikes, White Shoes, and Carfree Streets in Canada

August 30, 2024

Taylor decides on a new gravel bike.

Winnipeg cyclists stage an act of civil disobedience, stopping legally in single file at a stop sign, to bring awareness of the need for a stop-as-yield policy or “Idaho Stop Law” for cyclists. With Patty Wiens, “Bicycle Mayor” of Winnipeg, and Hillary Rosentretter.
4:02

We talk to our lawyer, Jim Pocrass of Pocrass de Los Reyes in Los Angeles, about whether it’s legal to ride two abreast in a lane.
16:55

News: Los Angeles will be car-free for the next Olympic Games, they say. Also, fewer 19 year olds are getting driver’s licenses, according to the most recent data from the Federal Highway Administration.
24:26

A listener, Kevin Grishkot, writes that “training and testing and standards set for the basic car license are criminally negligent.”
28:27

A tour of Montreal’s express bike lanes, called Réseau Express Vélo, and Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, “the best bike neighborhood in North America,” as well as some insight into the Canadian city’s bike connection with France, by Martin Hamel of Coalition Mobilité Active Montréal.
31:00

Stacey’s Bike Thought
55:48

bikecity, canada, carfreeolympics, civilobedience, idahostop, montreal, twoabreast, winnipeg
CicLAvia, Hollywood Bike Lane, Detroit Bike Ped Conference, UK Infrastructure & Politics

August 22, 2024

Taylor and Anne Marie saw their neighborhoods at human speed in Sunday’s CicLAvia in Los Angeles. “Meet the Hollywoods” opened 7 miles to people, not cars, from East to West Hollywood.

Anne Marie discovers Fan Girl, a women musicians themed café.
1:13

Taylor nervously rides Luke’s Penny Farthing far.
1:52

Vanessa, Ryan, and Victor share their favorite things about CicLAvia with Anne Marie.
5:38

The Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts reopens its bankrupt bikeshare with a new operator. A report from Carolyn Misch, Northampton’s Director of Planning & Sustainability.
9:09

Taylor reports back from West Hollywood’s Mobility Forum.
11:28

Taylor rides Hollywood Boulevard’s brand new protected bike lane with Damien Kevitt, Founder and ED of Streets Are For Everyone, and Mehmet Berker, Transportation Deputy for LA Council District 4.
12:12

Kendra Ramsey, Executive Director of the California Bicycle Coalition, on last week’s Association of Pedestrian and Biking Professionals in Detroit.
16:45

When Driving is Not An Option: Detroit car-free bike mom Christina Dubose interviews Anna Zivarts, Director of Disability Rights Washington’s Disability Mobility Initiative Program and author of When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency.
23:19

Bike Rodeos are for everyone: Christina interviews Safe Routes to School Coordinator for the City of Palo Alto Rose Mesterhazy.
30:01

More on the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals with Kendra Ramsey, APBP Board President.
34:51

Vehicular cycling, protected intersections, sensible driving, and the politics of active transportation in the UK with Carlton Reid, journalist and The Spokesmen podcaster. Carlton joins us from his 4,500 mile ride around Great Britain.
38:57

Stacey’s Bike Thought
56:50

apbp, bikerodeo, bikingisaright, ciclavia, disability, mobility, openstreets, pennyfarthing
Bike Hate, Culture Wars, Ebike Incentives, Beach Cruisin’

August 15, 2024

Anne Marie’s bike trip to Universal Studios, Taylor’s mountain trip, and Bikelash news.

An unhinged speaker’s threat to harass cyclists at a Glendale, Ca. City Council meeting could be used against him in court, say attorney Jim Pocrass and Kirsten Bladh, Streets For All’s Associate Director of State Policy, who posted the tweet that named the hater.
16:02

A report by Circulate San Diego finds that the California Coastal Commission opposes bike lanes to the beach and affordable housing. It’s their idea of “access,” says Colin Parent, Executive Director of Circulate San Diego.
29:06

“What the Heck Is Going on with the State E-bike Incentive Program?” asks California Streetsblog Editor Melanie Curry.
40:45

Stacey’s Bike Thought
55:53

ageism, bikelockers, bikeolympics, coastalaccess, culturewars, cyclistharassment, ebikes, progressive, velodrome
Car Cost, Olympic Biking, The White Line and Road Bike Advocacy

August 9, 2024

A parking ticket sets off another discussion about the cost of cars.
0:16

Monterey, California Trolley driver Tim Riley writes about subsidized transit, and how bikers can go from Salinas to Monterey Bay for $2 round trip.
7:23

Biking in the Olympics – track, MTB, the works.
11:48

When rising bike race star Magnus White was killed by a drowsy driver, his parents, Jill and Michael White, started The White Line Foundation to make roads safer and change the sentencing laws for vehicular homicide.
14:09

Is there truth to the stereotype that people who ride for sport aren’t involved in advocacy? Taylor finds out in a talk with Los Angeles’ Velo Club Lagrange board member Marco Fantone.
38:27

carcosts, olympicbikes, RoadAdvocacy, TheWhiteLine, transitsubsidies